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Google CEO Details Online Personal Health Record Service

Thursday, February 28, 2008

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Some health care professionals have raised concerns about the use of PHRs to sell advertisements and the possibility that the federal medical privacy rule issued after the enactment of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act does not cover records stored online (Wall Street Journal, 2/28).

Schmidt said that Google would not share any information with outside entities without the patient's consent. "Our model is that the owner of the data has control over who can see it," he said, adding, "And trust for Google is the most important currency on the Internet."

Schmidt also noted that the company will not use advertising to support Google Health and that it is relying on increased Web traffic to make the site profitable. Schmidt compared the new service to Google News, which is not ad-supported.

Google is currently testing the PHR service with 1,370 volunteers at the Cleveland Clinic. Schmidt did not specify when the service would be available to the public but said the company was working to release it soon (AP/San Jose Mercury News, 2/28).

Future Partners

Google said that future partners on the project would include hospitals, pharmacies, insurers and other health care stakeholders, including:

Aetna;

American Heart Association;

American Medical Association;

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (CNET News' "News Blog," 2/28);

Duane Reade (AP/San Jose Mercury News, 2/28);

Long's Drugs;

Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford University;

Quest Diagnostics;

University of California-San Francisco;

Walgreen; and

Wal-Mart Stores (CNET News' "News Blog," 2/28).

Schmidt did not disclose what each company might contribute (AP/San Jose Mercury News, 2/28).